The United Nations has declared 2025 the International Year of Co-operatives. DAVID J THOMPSON marks the milestone with a celebration of the movement’s unlikely birth in a small northern English town 180 years ago. On 21 December 1844, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society opened a small store in England with five items and little fanfare....
The Westminster electoral system is deeply flawed but PR is full of risks for the progressive left, says CHRIS WILSON. Could AV be the answer?...
The ILP has maintained a singular vision throughout Labour’s history, argues CHRIS WILSON. Born more than 130 years ago, its political ethos is needed now as much as ever....
MATTHEW BROWN reviews two recent books on the early Labour movement – a hefty historical novel focused on the ILP; and a slim pamphlet on the 1924 government....
CHRIS WILSON reviews a new collection of essays that aims to put Christianity at the heart of left politics, but fails to offer a coherent vision of a democratic socialist future....
The election of a new Labour government raises hopes that the scales between labour and capital will begin to be re-balanced. JOHN CUNNISON assesses the evidence so far....
The Sheffield-based co-operative resource centre, Principle 5, has published the sixth title in its series of pamphlets unearthing forgotten writings, writers and radical groups from the South Yorkshire city and its surroundings....
The new Labour government has already made some progress in reforming the health system but there is much more to do, says KEITH VENABLES....
The government’s Bill to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords is a welcome start on constitutional change, says CHRIS WILSON. But much more is needed for the UK to be a truly modern democracy....
Pioneering south Wales ILPer Minnie Pallister was one of the most important feminists, pacifists, socialists and journalists of the 20th century. But her life and legacy have been largely forgotten in recent decades. Author ALUN BURGE aims to put that right....
‘Anger is a power,’ The Clash’s Joe Strummer once sang. In politics, however, it needs to be channelled through courteous, comradely and informed debate. CHRIS WILSON calls for a new political culture based on an old Labour tradition....
Labour’s landslide victory is cause for celebration but serious challenges lie ahead for the party, the government and UK politics, says WILL BROWN....